


In This World of White Noise, You're My Favorite Sound

by Chaotic_Librarian



Category: Polygon/McElroy Vlogs & Podcasts RPF
Genre: M/M, The Perfect Pokerap, universe hopping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-05
Updated: 2020-02-05
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:47:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22571227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chaotic_Librarian/pseuds/Chaotic_Librarian
Summary: Another scene during their universe hopping, Brian finds himself on a familiar stage.Only, things go a lot differently.
Relationships: Brian David Gilbert/Patrick Gill
Comments: 4
Kudos: 78





	In This World of White Noise, You're My Favorite Sound

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Restricted Work] by [poppyseedheart](https://archiveofourown.org/users/poppyseedheart/pseuds/poppyseedheart). Log in to view. 



> So... I did it again. Another universe added to the ecwag verse, because I really like the premise and I enjoy the freedom it gives.

Brian hasn’t realized how much he has missed waking up in a bed until he comes to in one. But he’s not alone, there’s a warm body pressing against his back and an arm flung around his waist. And Brian’s hand is holding on to that arm. He slowly, carefully, shifts onto his back, careful not to crush the man that's been spooning him. It doesn't take a lot of brainpower to realize that it's Pat, but Brian smiles as he looks at the face of his sleeping bedmate. As he sits up, Brian realizes he's only wearing boxers, and he begins to look around.

They're not in either of their New York apartments, but then again, that's nothing new. Slipping out of bed, Brian decides to do some snooping. He finds a pile of clothes, too many clothes to be just his or Pat's, and decides that apparently this universe had exhausted Pat and Brian the day before. Brian always folds his clothes, or at least puts them away, before he goes to bed.

Stopping in front of the mirror over the dresser, Brian leans in with furrowed brows.  _ Oh _ , he thinks.  _ Maybe it wasn't exhaustion _ , he reconsiders as he eyes the marks of lips and teeth on his chest and shoulders. Shaking his head, Brian heads over to his bag,  _ they're not at home _ . Brian finds the clothes this universe's Brian had prepared for today and puts them on, only then realizing he recognizes this combination.

_ The Perfect Pokérap. _ Brian swallows as he settles the collar of the shirt while looking in the mirror, thankful that no hickeys were visible.  _ He's going to have to perform the Perfect Pokérap again. _ He can feel his hands start to tremble as he sits on the edge of the bed, reaching for his phone. The date checks out. Today is the day he performs the Perfect Pokérap.

Brian must have made his rising panic known, because two hands land on his shoulders, thumbs rubbing slowly. Leaning back into them, Brian can feel himself begin to smile. 

“You okay?” A voice behind him asks, groggy with sleep, but a little worried nonetheless. Brian lets out a slightly pained chuckle and shows him the date.

“It’s the Perfect Pokérap day, Pat. What if I forget?”

Brian can feel Pat shuffling around behind him, and the hands disappear from his shoulders and reappear snaking around his middle. Tipping his head forward, Brian feels a torso press against his back. Pat is pulling him into his arms, between his legs, and as soon as Brian realizes that’s what he’s doing, he relaxes back against him.

“You won’t forget,” Pat whispers.

“How can you be sure?” God, even his voice is shaking now.

“Because I know you.” Pat sounds more awake now, and his hand splays out on Brian’s stomach, a comforting pressure that grounds Brian against his partner. “And no matter what you’ve performed, who you’ve been, during this, you’ve never forgotten your lines. And you won’t now either.”

Brian sighs softly, he knows Pat is right. Of all the times he has had to perform in one way or another, he has just let the Brian that belongs here take care of it.

“It just feels different, because this is so close to home, I guess,” Brian murmurs, just as they hear a knock on the door.

“Pat, Brian, get up!” Simone calls, and Brian sits up.

“Shut up, Simone, we’re coming!” He calls back, turning to smile at Pat. He reaches out to take Pat’s hand with a grin. “We’ve got a show to put on.”

  
  
  


Time flies, Brian finds, and too soon it’s time for him to get ready to perform. He decides to repeat his mistake from his own performance, and sits under the table where Pat is going to be stationed throughout the show. This time, he allows himself to sit closer to Pat, curled up with his head resting against Pat’s knee gently. From time to time, Pat reaches down under the table, holding his palm towards Brian for him to take. Brian takes his hand, every time, and squeezes it, a silent message of “I’m okay, I’m fine” before letting go and allowing Pat to return to fixing the final touches before they began.

Then, it’s showtime, Pat starts the music and Brian finds himself slipping into his host character, a giant grin on his face as he appears from under the table. He moves on autopilot through the performance, through the first part without a hitch, and the two first steps of the making of a better Pokérap.

“We have to put the gesamtkunstwerks in the theatrical realm we’re talking about. So we’re talking about rap, we’re talking about song. That means we’re going to be talking about musical theatre, and that’s kind of a difficulty for me, because I’ve never done musical theatre before...” Brian gets cut off by the audience cheering and whistling, and as he turns to the screen and expects to see an old photo of himself, he instead sees a question. In big, bold, white letters, a simple four-word question is posed.

_ Will you  _

_ MARRY  _

_ me? _

Brian is shocked, and he turns to where Pat should be sitting, but he’s not there. He’s in front of the table, on one knee, with a ring box open in his hands, and a hesitant smile on his lips.

“This wasn’t in rehearsals, Patrick,” he mumbles into the microphone as he takes the two steps he needs to reach Pat.

“But yes, yes of course.” His voice is no more than a whisper, and Brian reaches his hand out to him, and Pat slides the ring onto his finger as he gets back to his feet. Brian tips his head back slightly when Pat takes that final step, and their lips meet in a short kiss before his partner’s warmth disappears and Pat returns to his seat. The audience is clapping and cheering until Brian has gathered himself enough to clear his throat.

“So, gesamtkunstwerks are… the thing about gesamtkunstwerks is that they’re more of a process than anything else.” Brian prides himself on the fact that his voice only quivers a little, and the unexpected proposal has shaken both him and the Brian of this universe into a state that it’s a miracle he doesn’t immediately fall apart and cut the performance short. He can freak out and quite possibly yell at Pat later.

“It’s what you do with the things you have. So we have these two brilliant building blocks from the first two shortcomings we fixed, and we can use those to mold into the perfect Pokérap.”

Brian manages to keep it together throughout the rest of the performance, somehow. But as he leaves, he can’t stop looking at the engagement ring on his finger. It’s a simple piece, a silver band that rests perfectly on his finger. He wonders when his Pat knew what he was about to do. Brian reasons with himself that Pat probably looked through the presentation as Brian sat under the table and waited, and yeah, that makes sense. He’ll have to ask when he next has Pat alone for a moment.

Brian feels exhausted, and really wants to just return to the airbnb to unwind, but he also doesn’t want to leave Pat alone. So he helps Pat pack down their things, and Brian finds himself sneaking continuous glances over at his fiancé. It’s the first time during their universe hopping that they’ve done anything like this, such a drastic change in their relationship on the day they were there, and Brian can’t help but feel grateful. Grateful that they got to witness this important part of this Pat and Brian’s life.

  
  
  


They walk together back to the airbnb, after checking in with Jenna, Clayton and Simone to let them know where they were headed. Simone rolled her eyes and made a snide remark about noise complaints, while Jenna and Clayton simply told them to go relax. As soon as they were inside, Brian takes off his shoes and flops onto the couch, feeling it dip as Pat sits down beside him.

“What the fuck, Patrick?” Brian looks at him with a slight smile, just to let Pat know he wasn’t mad, just… confused and a bit weird.

“I- shit, Brian, I don’t know, I was so fucking scared when I saw that slide and realized what I was about to do. But when it came time to actually do it, it just felt right. Natural.” And then Brian realizes Pat was just as shocked as he had been when the proposal had happened. Brian leans on Pat’s shoulder, sighing quietly.

“It was just not what I expected. Both me and this Brian thought you were just going to make fun of my musical theatre career, and not propose to me in front of like, 300 people. But just, damn, Pat, it was so simple, yet so disarming and frankly, really cute.” Brian chuckles softly and presses a kiss to Pat’s stubbled jaw.

Pat wraps an arm around Brian’s waist, his palm settling on his side, warm and comforting.

“I love you,” Brian whispers.

“I love you too, Brian,” Pat mumbles, pulling Brian just a little bit closer.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, kudos and comments are greatly appreciated!


End file.
